Monthly Archives: May 2012

May 26 2012

How many graphic novels can you fit in motorbike panniers?

As well as being a scifi nerd scifi hubby is also a very keen motorcyclist so we are currently away for a few days on the motorbike. In fact I’m being a human satnav. Scifi hubby is going away without me for the first time ever – however he would have got lost getting there so I played ‘satnav’ and am now spending a couple of days by the seaside with him before flying home. I then get three weeks without him and he enjoys riding around on the motorbike.

Motorbikes don’t have a lot of storage space. It’s not like you can just buy books and shove them in a suitcase or the boot of the car until you get home. He’s already got a rucksack and a tent strapped to the back and the panniers are full of waterproofs and a few tshirts. He even counted the number of pairs of underwear I packed to check I wasn’t taking up too much space. So how is buying 13 graphic novels today possible? Where exactly is he going to put them? I’m not shoving them down my leather jacket…

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The less said about the leopard print bag he chose (yes it really was his choice) the better perhaps 🙂

May 23 2012

Musings from 30,000 feet

I’m writing this whilst in an airplane somewhere over France (although from a safety perspective only uploading once I land of course) watching the sunset outside the window. We’re above the clouds with that beautiful affect of dusky sky above, fluffy white below and a pink line of sunset in between.

However I’m also sat over the wing of the plane. Ever since I watched Superman (the ‘new’ one with Brandon Routh) I can’t sit above the wing without expecting Superman to fly past the window and rescue me.

I know Scifi hubby complains the movie isn’t accurate to the comics and that Superman couldn’t have sex with Lois Lane let alone get her pregnant as apparently Clerks say super-sperm would kill her but quite frankly who really cares? Every woman I know likes the movie and most of us secretly love the original as well.

There’s something about the princess (Lois) being rescued from the evil villain (Lex Luthor) by the gorgeous knight in shining armour (Superman) that just appeals to the little romantic girl inside all of us. For me it’s the scene where Superman saves the plane, steps inside, looks Lois in the eyes and asks if she’s ok. Stupid man – she thinks you’ve been dead for five years and that’s all you can say?! It’s no wonder she faints away down the escape slide.

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Scifi hubby has long been my Superman…

May 21 2012

Cosplay buzzword bingo

And then there’s cosplay… Now I fully admit I’m not a huge fancy dress fan. I have been known to put a costume on for New Years Eve (a story for another time but yes I was Princess Leia and no it wasn’t the metal bikini) or a party but I’m still not sure about spending the weekend dressed as Batman, Loki, Mr Fantastic, The Thing, Superman etc.

Cosplay does seem to attract a certain type of nerd. Most of them are super confident, play the part, pose for photos, prance around on stage for the competition. However there are always a few who seem really shy. I just don’t get it – why dress up and then be shy?!

Now the ‘buzzword bingo’ bit. I’ve got a growing list of cosplayers to spot at cons:

    Super skinny Superman
    Fat Jedi
    Girl in latex/spandex who looks too amazing for ‘it’ all to be real
    Girl in latex/spandex who really shouldn’t wear it
    Girl in spandex who has black underwear on and hasn’t realise you can see it when a camera flash goes off
    Girl in a corset style costume who’s breasts look like they are only just balanced in the fabric
    Person with so much body paint they later realise they can’t touch anything, eat, drink or sit down
    Parents who’ve dressed their kids up in something really embarrassing
    Storm troopers
    Short Darth Vader
    Fat Batman
    Random cartoonesque person who is apparently from some manga book
    Grown women dressed as Japanese school girls, manga style
    Muppets (I mean the Jim Henson kind)

I’m not telling you which of these we saw this time – that wouldn’t be nice…

Being a typical bloke Scifi hubby particularly likes the latex/spandex/painted girls. Here’s a few of his favourites from Kapow:

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May 21 2012

Kapow!

Comic conventions have a distinctive smell which makes the light and airy venue for Kapow perfect. In fact it may have been designed with comic nerds in mind. Spread over several levels with a very high glass ceiling the smell has a chance to dissipate and for once wasn’t the first thing you noticed!

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Scifi hubby was in his element – two days of comic book heaven. He got lots of autographs, a few sketches, too many new graphic novels (hard covers of course) and of course some comics. We also spent a lot of time in queues, made some new ‘queue buddies’, met Jonathan Ross, watched crap fake wrestling (don’t even ask but here’s video of Jonathan Ross taking part) and caught up with some fellow comic books friends including a few scifi wives.

I do love spotting the ‘girly touches’ at comic cons. There’s a growing range of DC and Marvel home furnishings available including mugs, cushions, tea towels and aprons. My new favourite has to be the Superman and Batman bathmats…

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Finally home with a load of washing, comics to put away, sore feet but a very happy scifi hubby.

May 18 2012

One day until KAPOW!

KAPOW! comic con starts tomorrrow so we’re heading to London tonight so we can be in the queue nice and early in the morning.

I am trying to show willingness for Scifi hubby so have packed my superman tshirt and painted my fingernails with superhero symbols…

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Then I got a little carried away and attacked Scifi hubby with the nail varnish (I’ve hidden the nail varnish remover). Don’t you think red suits him? 😉

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May 11 2012

Countdown to comic con

It’s Kapow Comic Con in London in eight days time. Skype, FaceTime, Facebook and every aspect of life appears to be taken up with planning for it. Key questions appear to include:

    Which artists/writers are going?
    Where will they be?
    How can they possibly only sign for such a short time?
    Will ‘my darling’ Scifi wife be nice to me and go and stand in a queue whilst I meet someone else?
    Which books do ‘we’ need to take with us to get signed?
    How much is our baggage allowance anyway?
    Which artists are taking pre-Con sketches?
    How much are they?

Not forgetting of course:

    Which mates are going?
    Which bar will they be in?

Scifi hubby isn’t as impressed with me asking:

    Where’s the nearest M&S, Next, Monsoon, Debenhams, Starbucks?
    How long can I spend shoe shopping?
    Which is the best restaurant?
    Do I really have to get up at 4am to stand in a queue for X, Y, Z…?!
May 10 2012

Melting Star Wars figures

It’s the first really hot day of the year today (about 30 degrees) which always reminds me of a very early scifi hubby story…

We’d only been dating a few weeks when I arrived at his parents house (yes he still lived with his parents but to be fair so did I and we were both very young) to find him ‘washing’ his original Star Wars figures in the bathroom sink. He was a little embarrassed to be caught doing this and tried hard not to let me see how concerned he was. His bedroom was in the attic and he’d come home from work that day to discover it was over 40 degrees. His most precious Star Wars figures all lived in a glass cabinet and the plastic was sweating in the heat! He was busy bathing them to get them cool again.

Unfortunately there were a few casualties who just couldn’t be saved. A melty Max Rebo whose arms had changed colour too sticks in my mind the most. As any scifi wife will know it goes without saying that we have since found replacements.

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The Star Wars figures now. Back in a glass cabinet but this time in a carefully temperature controlled room!

May 6 2012

Dreaming about Stan Lee

Scifi hubby has managed to get into my head completely now – last night I actually dreamed about him, Stan Lee and New York Comic Con. Hubby did spend most of yesterday talking about NYCC so maybe that explains it…

    We have some good friends who run a comic shop in the UK and they were setting their stall up at the con (to my knowledge they have never had a stall at a US con and are unlikely ever to). The show was just about to open but they had given us staff badges so we were in already. Scifi hubby had gone racing off to look round and I was sat on a table opposite their stall trying to get the wifi in the Javitts centre to work. And then up walked Stan Lee.

    Apparently our friends had invited him to sign at their stall but had never heard back from him so didn’t think any more of it. And then there he was saying he’d sign for a few hours and come again tomorrow. My friends were completely flustered but were managing to make space, find Marvel books, fix a contract and makes signs to say how much it would be.

    A small child dressed as Darth Vader came screaming up to the stall, sat next to Stan and refused to move. Then a chap dressed as Loki from The Avengers joined them. Just as I was thinking I should phone Scifi hubby to come back to the stall he appeared around the corner. A little oddly he was wearing a Boba Fett helmet and ran over to Stan squealing like a small child and waving his hands in the air…

Unfortunately the cat chose that moment to be noisily sick under the bed and woke me up. A strange start to the day.

May 4 2012

Happy Star Wars day!

I’m celebrating by drinking Rosé at a restaurant overlooking the river in the sunshine. I have no idea what Scifi hubby is up to. It seemed a good day to go out with colleagues from work 🙂

Star wars day seems to bring out the worst scifi jokes in scifi nerds worldwide whilst ‘normal’ people have no idea why it is even Star Wars day…

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For those of you who aren’t nerds it’s because May the fourth sounds like ‘may the force… be with you’.